…South East is important to PDP – Saraki
In a determined effort to resolve the internal crisis threatening the unity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party’s Special Reconciliation Committee, led by former Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki, on Friday met with Enugu State Governor and South East PDP leader, Dr. Peter Mbah.
Other members of the high-powered delegation included former Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Seriake Dickson, and former Gombe State Governor, Dr. Ibrahim Dankwambo. The meeting was held behind closed doors at the Government House, Enugu.
It will be recalled that two weeks ago, the South East PDP Zonal Executive Council (ZEC) re-nominated former National Youth Leader, Hon. Sunday Udeh-Okoye, to complete the remaining tenure of the National Secretary. A communique issued after the meeting warned of possible defection if their decision was not honored.
“In the event that our position is not promptly implemented by the Party, the South East PDP, as a family, will be compelled to reconsider our relationship with the PDP going forward,” the communique stated.
Speaking to newsmen after Friday’s meeting, Dr. Saraki said, “We are members of the PDP Reconciliation and Strategy Committee that was set up recently by the PDP Governors’ Forum to work towards ensuring that our upcoming National Executive Council meeting and also likely convention is rancor-free and works smoothly.
“In line with that, we are here in Enugu State to consult with one of our leaders, Governor Peter Mbah, who is the leader of South East PDP.
“This is the first state we are coming to because we appreciate the importance of the South East in our PDP family. As you all know, the South East has played a key role as the bedrock of the popularity and the strength of our party.
“In recognition of that, we are here to consult with him and first to commend him on the leadership role he has been playing in the party. More importantly also, to commend what he is doing in Enugu State, which is a reflection for Nigerians to see what happens when you have a PDP government.
“In doing that, we discussed how we will ensure that we carry out the assignment given to us and go ahead to have our NEC and our convention. We will have one that is rancor-free and smooth, peaceful and lays the foundation for the PDP that we all are wishing for.
“We have had a very good discussion. Frankly, we have had a very, very useful discussion. We are going away with some of the suggestions that we have here and hopefully work on that.
“With this, we can say here in Enugu we laid the foundation for a greater new PDP that is coming.
“What we have also seen today is that there is nothing insurmountable in the challenge ahead and the spirit, the commitment of all of us, especially our leaders, is very very inspiring,” he stated.
